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1969 in Los Angeles, California. He is survived by his mother and father
Marco Antonio Chavez and his mother Alejandra; siblings, Valerie (Chad) Rosolini
and Ramon “R.J.” (Courtney) Chavez; numerous nieces and nephews whom he loved and adored; Erika(Lucas) Montoya, Gabriella, (Tony), Chad Jr.
and Xavier. He graduated from South High School in 1987 where he played football
and enjoyed making numerous memories with friends and family. Mark was a loving father and enjoyed every moment he was able to spend with his son Marco
He enjoyed taking his nieces and nephews on many adventures to the park and spending quality time with them. Mark loved to dance and very outgoing
He had no fear of meeting new people and going to new places
One of his favorite places to go was the beach with his family and friends
Mark could make anyone laugh or smile at any given moment and enjoyed being social
It is with great love and sadness that we must part with our beloved Mark. Mark’s smile
Image: prozac1 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:
Rosolino Palazzolo with some of the tropical fruits produced in his farm
Aug 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Sicilian farmer Rosolini Palazzolo first started growing papayas 11 years ago
hardly any of his neighbours even knew what they were
the southern Italian island famed for its picturesque orange and lemon groves is dotted with the kind of exotic fruit trees more usually associated with tropical climates - from papaya to bananas to mangoes
"I get shivers when I eat mangoes now," Palazzolo laughed as he recalled how unimpressed he was when he first tasted the fruit after buying one imported from Brazil
The 39-year-old is part of a new generation of Sicilian farmers producing exotic fruits - encouraged by demand and made possible by climate change
"The temperature rise has been good for us ..
for these fruits," he said as he cut open a passion fruit
Demand has also grown as consumers have become more aware of the health benefits of eating fresh
locally grown papayas and other tropical fare
"They got the information from the internet about vitamins and so on
Letizia Marceno's family has been farming on the outskirts of Sicily's capital Palermo for seven generations and began growing bananas about eight years ago
"It became more favourable and more useful to cultivate the bananas," said Marceno
whose seven-hectare farm now has 1,200 banana trees growing alongside more traditional Sicilian fruit and vegetable crops
they recently added avocados and mangoes to their repertoire
Average temperatures in Sicily have risen about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) in the last century
said local climate researcher Francesco Viola
who rarely saw exotic fruits or greenhouses while growing up
The trend is also driven by competition from cheap imports of more traditional crops that has forced farmers to diversify
But there are threats to the island's exotic fruits boom
Farmers said while the new crops brought in more money
costs were also higher as tropical fruits need a lot of water
And while temperatures on the island are rising
according to a 2013 paper by researchers including Viola
who works at Sardinia's University of Cagliari
"The most likely scenario for Sicily in the next years is ..
less rainfall and higher temperatures," said Viola
warning this could affect crop productivity
the influential Italian farmers' association
said climate change was influencing agriculture across Italy
"The rise in temperature has favoured the launch of tropical crops in Sicily and Calabria," said its president
"It also pushed up the 'olives line' to a point where now there are small olive oil productions even on the Alps."
Water shortages are already a big issue for small farmers in Sicily
a professor at the University of Palermo's Department of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences
Sottile now works to help farmers grow the indigenous
drought-friendly vegetables that were forgotten when irrigation became available
"We have a lot of experience and tradition
that are able to grow with a very small amount of water," he said
Sottile said he remained optimistic about Sicily
where youth unemployment in 2017 was almost 60 percent
and 55 percent of the population lives on or below the poverty line - double the national average
They choose to go back to the farm after the graduation and that gives me enthusiasm," he said
Scientists say the changes to conditions could vary across Sicily
which is the largest island in the Mediterranean and has diverse microclimates and soil types
a law-graduate-turned-farmer who grows avocados in the shadow of Mount Etna
said the rich volcanic soil and clear water provided ideal growing conditions
who converted his grandfather's old vineyard and lemon farm 15 years ago
said the island's agriculture industry must innovate and collaborate if it is to have a future
He has brought together other Sicilian avocado growers under a single brand and now exports the popular fruit to France and Poland
Fruit farmer Palazzolo agreed that innovation was the key to success - and was already thinking up his next venture
but no one around you has (it) either," he said
"We want to be the first coffee producer in Italy
And when I travelled Cuba and I tasted the sugarcane rum
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Tony Rosolini doesn't like to sugar-coat the story around his horse Undergroundfighter
who on Saturday faces the starter and the marathon 4950-metre journey of the Great Eastern Steeplechase at Oakbank
"He's the worst flat horse I've ever had but he's the best jumper I've ever had," Rosolini said on Wednesday
"He will jump anything that you put in front of him."
Undergroundfighter has plenty of obstacles to negotiate in front of an expected huge Easter Saturday crowd at Oakbank but he won't have too many rivals to worry about as he was one of just six horses to be paid-up for in the jumps feature at the final acceptance stage on Wednesday
Being slow can be a bit of a setback for a racehorse
but not so for Undergroundfighter as his trainer does not hold great expectations apart from two races each year - the famous Oakbank race and the Grand Annual Steeplechase over 5500m at Warrnambool in May
"He's too slow to be a chance in any other race and he's small too," Rosolini said
"He races at 450 kilos so he's not very big
I put him out for three months and fed him up and he came back two kilos heavier."
WATCH: Undergroundfighter's last start at Terang
Rosolini bought the horse for $7000 after noticing him in a sales catalogue
His family stood out on the page as his dam French Resistance was a half sister to a horse called Spyglass
who was the dam of a horse that Rosolini knew well
Rosolini sold a son of Spyglass by the name of Specular for a whopping $750,000 to Europe to race after showing great jumping promise in Victoria
Although he spent just $7000 to secure him
Rosolini was initially hard-pressed finding many positives about the horse
The only one that stood out was that family link to a quality jumper
I started putting him over jumps to see if he could jump," Rosolini said
"It didn't take too long to find out that he was slow
It was 12 months ago that Rosolini's patience began to pay off
Undergroundfigher was beaten just half a length in the Great Eastern last year before a few weeks later running fourth in the daddy of all jumps races in this country - the Grand Annual
Rosolini goes into Saturday's feature with some confidence despite the struggle to get the horse to the stage where he could tackle such a race
"He's had a good preparation but there were times when I couldn't get a run with him because he's rated about 44 or something so I had to take him to the picnics just to get a run to get him right for these races," he said
"I've followed basically the same program this year as last year and I honestly believe that he's actually going better than last year
"He goes in with the minimum weight again of 64 kilograms and the horse that beat us (Spying On You)
we meet him three-and-a-half kilos better and so I reckon he can pick up that half a length he beat us last year over the 5000-metre trip."
The U-18 girls squad of Sicilian club ASD Rosolini Vivere recently had a training camp in Malta during which they played friendly matches against Paola Hibernians
the Rosolini Vivere players were led by energetic club president Liliana Galfo and coach Salvatore Gennuso who has deep roots in the game in Italy and abroad
Andrew Attard co-ordinated Rosolini Vivere’s friendly matches and logistics during their training camp
Picture shows the Sicilian players with their counterparts from Paola Hibernians
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